December 17, 2012

My family absolutely loves these muffins and that includes my extended family. During my brother’s family’s last visit from Southern California my nephew asked if I could make these muffins. I told him I didn’t have enough ripe bananas and he actually got his mom to drive to Target to pick up bananas so I could make some muffins. LOL. The original recipe is from the Hawaii Soto Mission Cook Book andI added some of the variations I’ve tried at the bottom of the post.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (note this is for bread loaves. I normally do muffins in cupcake tins and bake for 17-18 minutes)

Variations:

I’ve been trying to get my kids to eat somewhat healthier food options and it has not been easy. I have found that I can substitute 1/2 cup of flour for whole wheat flour and it tastes fine. I also toss in a tbsp of flax without a problem. If your bananas are ripe enough I’ve also found you can reduce the amount of sugar you use. I noted above that I never use the full cup of oil and instead add 1/2 cup of applesauce. I’ve tried lessening the oil even more and found they really stick to the pan so be sure to use liners if you try that.

I will often make a double or triple batch and freeze some of the muffins. Just take them out a day or two before you want to eat them and then warm them either in a microwave or toaster. I sometimes also make some mini-muffins which my kids love!

May 1, 2012

I am a huge fan of scones and my daughter loves the blueberry lemon scones I’ve been buying from a friend. With money being tight I had to find my own recipe and I am so happy with the way these turned out. I found a Cranberry-Orange Scone recipe in the May copy of All You magazine that I altered by using blueberries and lemon of course instead of the cranberries and orange.

They were a little crumbly when I pressed them in the pie pane and it made it a bit difficult to cut up. Next time I may just hand shape them but other than that they had a nice crunchy crust and were so moist and soft on the inside. So yummy! I will definitely be making these again.

Scones

Ingredients:

3 TBSP packed light brown sugar

Zest of 1 lemon, grated

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Blueberries (I used frozen ones and eye balled the amount)

1 cup heavy cream

Glaze

Ingredients:

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degress

2. Place sugar and zest in a food processor and pulse 2-3 times to combine.

3. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine.

4. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until butter is incorporated with a few larger pieces remaining.

5. Pour into a bowl and add in blueberries.

6. Pour cream on top and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.

7. Line an 8-inch round baking pan with plastic wrap. Press dough into pan to form an even layer

8. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, peel off the wrap and cut dough into 12 wedges with a sharp knife.

9. Place scones on a parchment lined baking sheet(s).

10. Bake until light brown, 12-15 minutes. Cool scones on wire rack.

11. Make glaze by stirring sugar and juice in a small bowl with a fork. (Add more sugar or juice as needed.)

March 2, 2012

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday and to celebrate I tried baking these swirl cookies I found on Pinterest because they totally remind me of the book Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Alas, recipes don’t always go as planned. So this was the picture I saw that inspired me:

Here’s the pin if you want to try the recipe. So that’s how it’s supposed to look and this is how my cookies turned out:

So I think my problem was that it says to use the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix which I didn’t have. So I went hunting for sugar cookie recipes. I ended up using this Wilton cookie recipe and didn’t notice until I got to almost the last step where it says the dough will be very stiff. So of course that doesn’t lend itself to rolling it out and then swirling it. I really had to squish the dough together and then it didn’t bake evenly so I ended up flattening them out. So next time I plan on trying a different sugar cookie recipe. Suggestions are welcome!

The other problem was getting the dough the proper color without overworking the dough. I used the neon colored food coloring like the recipe called for but getting it to blend nicely was hard. A friend did just suggest that if you have a stand mixer it would be easier but I was mashing it in by hand.

Anyhow, they didn’t turn out how they were supposed to look but my daughter thought they were tasty. I had planned to send her to school with these tomorrow to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday but guess I will end up keeping them at home for the kids and try again next year.

February 25, 2012

I’m sure everyone with kids has had the experience where you take the kids grocery shopping and they beg for something and promise they will eat it and of course rarely do they finish it. This happens all the time when it comes to bananas and my four year old. She begs for me to buy bananas (and not just one or two but a whole bunch) and after eating half of one or two she’s done. So then it’s left to me and my husband to finish them off. Bananas are one of those fruits I just have to be in the right mood for so we always end up with those over ripe, black bananas. Thus I set off on my hunt for a good banana bread recipe. I tried one recipe after another and none tasted quite right until I came across this one in the Hawaii Soto Mission Cookbook my mom sent me.

I loved it and more importantly my kids love it. It’s a loaf or muffin recipe but I usually make them into mini muffins and freeze them in quart size ziplocs. Then every now and then we take out a bag to defrost in the fridge and then pop them into the microwave as a quick breakfast for the kids. It’s also a great recipe to let the little ones help you out in the kitchen. My four year old loves to mash the bananas and mix all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups mashed, ripe bananas

2 cups flour, sifted

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup Wesson oil

3 eggs

1/2 cup chocolate chips or raisins

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mash bananas and set aside

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl

Add sugar, oil and eggs and stir until blended

Add chocolate chips, bananas and vanilla; mix well

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour if using loaf pans, for regular size muffins 20 minutes and for minis I eye ball it and check it around 16-18 minutes

Now that I’m on a kick to try and cook/bake healthier foods I do want to try experimenting with less sugar and maybe replacing the oil. Will have to see how it works out.